LU ZHI AND PAN WENSHI
and manipulate bamboo shoots.
There were dramatic differ
ences in the ways Jiao Jiao
raised these two cubs. When Hu
Zi was born, she did not leave
his side for nine days, neither
feeding nor defecating; with Xi
Wang that period lasted 25
days. All told, Hu Zi stayed
with his mother for two and a
half years before she mated and
left him-an unusually long
time. Xi Wang was on her own
in a year and a half-a more
common pattern.
Once he was alone, Hu Zi
seemed to take a cautious
approach to life. For months he
stayed close to a large adult
male, maybe for protection. His
first sexual stirrings were like
wise tentative. At three and a
half, he began to haunt mating
sites, small areas of forest scent
marked by females in estrus.
Here Hu Zi watches from a tree
(above) as the female Mo-Mo
waits for males to appear; sev
eral mated with her. A year later
Hu Zi fought another young
male over breeding rights, lost,
and was badly injured. Though
now sexually mature, he still has
not mated.
China's Giant Pandas
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